Winfield Scott, commander-in-chief of the American army, was born June
13, 1786, near Petersburg, Virginia. He is descended from a Scotch
family, who were obliged to take refuge in America after the rebellion
of 1745. After completing his preparatory education, he spent a year
or two at William and Mary college, and afterward studied the law, and
was admitted to the bar in 1806. In the autumn of 1807, he emigrated
to South Carolina, intending to practice his profession at Charleston,
but meeting with difficulties in the attainment of his object, he
returned to the north. The political events of the country were then
rapidly approaching the crisis of 1812; a bill had passed through
Congress to enlarge the army, and Scott having applied for a
commission, was appointed, in 1808, captain in a regiment of light
artillery, and was ordered the following year to join the army in
Louisiana, under the command of General Wilkinson. For some act of
insubordination toward his commander he was suspended for a year, but
he again joined the army before the commencement of the war. Shortly
after that event, he received a lieutenant-colonel’s commission, and
was posted at Black Rock, on the Niagara frontier. His first active
service was at the attack of Qeenstown heights, where he took command
of the American force after all the superior officers were killed or
wounded. This affair, as is well known, ended disastrously, and Scott,
with the survivors of his men, became prisoners-of-war. From
Queenstown he was sent to Quebec, and shortly after exchanged. In the
following year he distinguished himself at the attack on Fort George,
in the descent upon York, and the capture of Fort Matilda, on the St.
Lawrence. In March, 1814, he was made brigadier-general; July 3, in
the same year, he captured Fort Erie, and on the fifth he fought the
bloody battle of Chippewa, in which both sides claimed the victory. On
the 25th of the same month was fought the still more sanguinary battle
of Niagara or Lundy’s Lane. In this well-fought contest, General Scott
was badly wounded, and his life is said to have been despaired of for
some weeks. Philadelphia and Baltimore having been threatened with an
attack, Scott was requested to take command of the forces in that
vicinity. On his way to the scene of his duties, he passed through
Princeton, and the learned dignitaries of the college in that town
conferred upon the general the honorary degree of master of arts, a
curious compliment, probably having some reference to the art of war.
About the same time he was promoted to the rank of major-general, the
highest grade in the army, he being at that time but twenty-eight
years of age. On the conclusion of the peace, in 1815, he was tendered
the post of secretary of war, but declined to accept it; and the same
year he paid a visit to Europe, principally for the purpose of
improving himself in his profession. About 1833 he brought the
Black-Hawk war, in the north-western frontier, to a successful
termination, and he was shortly after in command at the commencement
of the Seminole war in Florida; but this not being so successful as
was anticipated, he was ordered home and deprived of his command. In
1837-’38 he was stationed on the Niagara frontier to enforce the
neutrality of the United States during the ‘patriot war’ in Canada;
and soon afterward he superintended the removal of the Cherokee
Indians beyond the Mississippi. By the death of General Macomb, in
1841, General Scott became commander-in-chief of the army. The scene
of his next exploits was Mexico. After some difficulty with the
president and secretary of war, General Scott was permitted to lead a
force to Vera Cruz. The events of that campaign are recent and well
known. San Juan de Ulloa was captured March 27, 1847; the battle of
Cerro Gordo was fought on the 18th of April; the battle of Contreras
on the 19th of August; and the battle of Churubusco on the following
day; and after the storming of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec, the
city of Mexico was captured September 14, 1847.